Pencil



J. c. WAHL PENCIL y'Filed June 19, 193s .Auga 6, 1940.

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Patented Aug. 6, 1940 UNITE!)l vs'riiTl-:s

P ENcn. John C. Wahl, Chicago, Ill. Application Julie 19, 1939, SealN0.`279,985

13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in pencils and in particular topencils of the socalled automatic type wherein the lead may be advancedwith a step by step movement, being capable of operation with one handonly.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved pencil of the abovetype.

Another object is to provide improved means by which the lead may begrasped and fed v-forwardly.

A further object is to providea pencil having improved means for holdingthe lead in position and which effectively resists any backward movementof the lead due to pressure applied to the lead when writing. l

A further object is to provide an improved pencil in which the means forgraspingl the lead to advance it may be readily disengaged from theleads, as said means is returned to normal posi- An additional object bystep type, that although such rotation is not necessary in feeding thelead downwardly, nevertheless it results in no damage to the mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of my invention'.

will'appear as the description proceeds. With reference to the figures,in which like numerals represent like parts:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, sectional view of the .preferred embodiment ofthe invention, with they feed mechanism in retracted position;

Fig. 2 is a similar section, but with the Wfeed mechanism in a)different stage of its operation; Fig. 3 is an Aelevation of the tubethrough which the pieces of -lead are advanced;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the tip of the pencil; l

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the swivel-support for said tube;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, `modified form of feed mechanism,

projecting from the end of 5 mum amount; y v

Fig. 'I is a similar sectional view showing the sectional view of awiththe lead feed mechanism ina different stage of its operay tion;

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing said feed mecheo anism in its normalposition and with no lead in thetube; and

Fig. 9 is a section Fig.v 1.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 6, certain elements are the same in eachembodiment and will taken-on the line 9-9 of iss'to provide a pencil inwhich the feed mechanism, although of the step may rotate within thebarrrel sou the pencil the maxi-- (Cl. 1Z0-17) be referred to by thesame reference numeral. Reference numeral I0 refers to the barrel of thepencil which is inthe form of a tubular shell with the lower end thereoftaperingin the usual manner. A plug Il is positioned at the lower end of5 the barrel. I0 its walls being taperedVv also so that it may be firmlywedgedin place, the plug havlng a downwardly extending screw threadedprojection thereon which is received in a correspondingly threadedrecess in the tip I2 so that the 10 latter acts as a nut and aids inholding the parts together. A central tube I3. through which the leadsare advanced, passes through the plug II and through a portion of thetip I2 and extends upwardly from theA tip toa point about midway 1| ofthe length of the barrel. This tube serves as the guiding means for theindividual lengths of lead which are fed from the lead chamber to thelpoint of the pencil. See particularly Fig. 3.

' `In' order to advance the pieces of lead toward 20 the point, thefollowing mechanism is provided.

A member in the form of a small housing Il is'positioned within thebarrel and is adapted to "slide back and forth thereinI said housingbeing apertured to permit cate with respect to said tube also. Anextension I5, of reduced diameter, is provided at the upper end of saidhousing and tapers downwardly toward thecentral aperture, as indicatedat IB.

A closure plug I1 is screw threaded into the lower end of said housingand also has a central aperture therethrough. In addition there are twodepending ribs I8 and I9 which are spaced from each other inparallelrelationship. Said '35 ribs are adapted to receive between themthe toggle members 20 and 2| which are mounted on suitable pivot pins2.2 and 23 which may be riveted in place, each pin supporting one of the.toggle members, of which there two. These two members serve also as apair of, tongs, as explained later. Springs 24 and 25 are provided oneither face 0f the toggle members, each spring being secured at eitherend to each .of the toggle members by a suitable pin to draw the sametoward each other in abalanced arrangement. The tube I3 is provided withslots* 26, corresponding in number to the number of toggle members, twoin this instance, which are disposed opposite each other and through 5ueach of which slots projects a tooth or .sharp point 21, formed on thecorresponding toggle member.

Each of the toggle members is formed with a secondtriangular projection28 just below said tooth 21 and which extends inwardly 55 the fixed tubeI 3 to extendg therethrough so that said housing may reciproarepreferably '40 toward the other toggle member to a less extent than saidtooth and which provides a double cam surface, the purpose of which willbe presently explained.

Mounted on the tube I3 within the upper part of the housing I4 is aslidable sleeve 30, provided with a ange 3I against which bears theupper end of a coil spring 32 which is.also positioned within thehousing. A similar collar 33 rests on a shoulder 34 (see Fig. 3) on thetube I3 and is secured by soldering or by other conventional means, andAprovides a s eat for the lower end of the spring. The position of thelower collar 33 with respect to the housing I4 is such that when thehousing is held in its uppermost position by the helical spring, whichis its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the collar is in the lowerend of the housing, the plug I1 being recessed to accommodate saidcollar. d

Suitably affixed to the upper portion of the housing I6, as for exampleby spinning it over the boss I6, is a plunger 35 in the form of acylindrical container for the lead to be used. It is centrallypositioned within the barrel I and extends upwardly beyond the same andthrougha ring or ferrule 36 which spaces the two and acts as a bearingfor the slidable inner tube or container. Said inner tube is providedwith a suitable friction sleeve 31 which is removable therefrom with thecap 38 and which may also have the usual eraser 39 associated therewith.

The lower ends of thetoggle members or tongs 20, 2I, normally overlie aslidable collar 40, which in Fig. 1 is shown in its lowermost position.This collar has an annular flange 4I at its lower end and is preferablyared somewhat at its upper end 42 or provided with a shallow annulargroove just below said end, to provide an outwardly naring surface. Thelower part of said collar is confined within a thimble 43, the lower endof which is screw threaded over a screw threaded boss 44 at the upperend of the plug II. (See Figr.) The ange 4I normally rests on the upperend of said boss which limits the vdownward movement of the colla! 40.I'he operation is as follows:

A number of lengths of lead having been stored in the magazine or leadchamber 35, by removing the cap 38, one of said leads will vslide intothe `upper end of the tube I3 until it is obstructed by two points orteeth 21 which are normally spaced apart a little less than thethickness of a lead, being yieldingly held-in place by the two smallsprings 24 and 25.. If the operator now presses on the cap 38 anddepresses the plunger-35, the barrel I4 as a whole is moved downwardlyagainst the resistance of the helical spring 32, the lower end of whichis held against movement by its seat 33 which rests on the shoulder 34on the small tube I3 through which the leadis guided to the tip orpoint. During this downward movement the cam surfaces 28 on the togglemembers 20,

' 2| engage the upper end 42 of thecollar and spread said members apartslightly, suiliciently to.move the teeth 21 apart and permit the lead tofall to the tip of the pencil, in which it is restrained by a frictiondevice 45 comprising a tubular member with slots, providing convergingspring fingers which apply a slight friction to the lead, enough to holdit in place except when it is forced through said device.`

Assuming that the single piece of lead in the tube is long enough toextend from the tip upwardly beyond the toggle members, the next step isto relax the pressure on the plungenwhere-v upon the helical, spring 32moves the housing I4 upwardly to its'initial position, thus drawing thetoggle members upwardly into .position to grip the lead. At the end ofthe preceding downward movement, the two triangular projections 23 havebeen forced apart until they have snapped over and a little under Atheenlargement 42 at the upper end of the collar 40. In this position thetoggle .nembers serve as a pair of tongs and grip said collar, andduring their upward movement they slide said collar upwardly until theilange 4I 'of the lower end thereof engages the upper end of the thimble43, preventing further upward movement of said collar. Thereupon thetriangular'projections 28 ride oi the enlargement 42. as the tongscontinue their upward movement and said tongs are drawn together by thesmall helical springs, causing the oppositely facing teeth 21 to biteinto opposite sides of the lead. In this position the lower ends of thetongs clear the upper end of the collar 40, as shown in Fig. 2.

The plunger is then depressed again whereupon the downward movement ofthe toggle members forces the lead past the friction device and outthrough the tip of the pencil. During this downward or forward movementof the lead, the grip thereon is provided by a -toggle action, as aresult of which any resistance which is encountered causes an increasedgrip on the lead and prevents slipping. Also, if thepencil is presseddown on a writing padasin Writing or otherwise, the upward thrust on thelead is resisted by said toggle members. AIt is apparent that successivedepressions of the plunger will result in the advance of the lead with astep by step movement, the extent of which is determined, in general, bythe length of the collar 40 and the length of the lower ends of thetongs. As soon as the upper end of the lead being used, descends belowthe top of the tube I3, another lead drops into place behind it and thusthe various lengths of lead in the magazine are automatically fedthrough the pencil one after the other in alignment. During the periodthat the barrel I4 is depressed, it is positioned so that the boss I atits upper end is lower than the upper end of the tube I3 and theremaining leads in the magazine cannot drop into said tube, even ifthere is no lead projecting fromv the upper end thereof. It isunderstood, of course, that during the feeding operation the pencil isheld preferably 'in vertical position or nearly vertically although thefeeding operation after one of the leads has once been gripped, may takeplace with the pencil held in almost any position.

It will be seen that the collar 40 constitutes a stop member forspreading the toggle arms apart so as to` release the lead grippedbetween them and also constitutes means rfor automatically holding themapart during their upward movement so that they will grip the lead' at ahigher point thanthe point of release. It will also be seen that whenthe collar 40 reaches the upper limit of its movement, and the opposingcam members 28 are drawn oi! the upper end of said collar, the latter isrestored to its initial position with a snap action, due to the factthat the opposing cam surfaces are drawn toward each other suddenly bythe small helical springs as soon as they are released. In addition saidcollar tends to'fall by its own weight. 'I'he enlargement 42 at theupper end of said collar insures a little firmer grip between the tongsand said enlargement, although the latter may be omitted as said collarwill be drawn upwardly by the frictional grip thereon without theprovision of a groove or outwardly :daring enlargement.

Since many mechanical pencils on the market are operated by rotating-orscrewing the upper end thereof with respect to the lower part, the usersof such pencils are inclined to attempt to rotate some part of a pencilsuch as the one shown herein, in which the lead is advanced with a stepby step movement and not with a rotary movement. To prevent damaging themechanism by the application of force in an attempt to rotate the end,the pencil shown herein is so constructed that the step by step feedmechanism rotates freely within the outer barrel, even though suchrotation performs no function.

The swivel supporting means scribed which permits such rotation. partsare 5; The lower part of the tube I3 is reduced in diameter somewhat, asshown at 4B, thereby These 4'providing a shoulder, as shown in Fig. 3,the

lower end of said reduced portion being screw threaded. vA washer 41 isseated against said shoulder, as shown at Fig. 5, and a" sleeve 48 ispressed upwardly against said washer, said sleeve having a flange 49 atthe lower is screwed a nut 50. Thus a collar is applied to the lower endof said tube, which collar has a fiange at the upper and lower end.thereof which serve as stop iianges to prevent upward and downwardmovement of the ,tube but permit the same, and the collar aiiixedthereto,'to

4rotate -freely in the lower screw threaded extension 5I on the plug IIwhich serves as a bearing and to which is screwed the tip I2, aspreviously stated. The bore of said tip is sumciently large to permitthe lower end of the tube I3 to rotate therein without interference.`With this arrangement, if the user .of the pencil attempts to twist thecap while depressing `the plunger, practically the entire mechanismabove the tip and the plug will rotate and the lead will be advanced,due to the inward movement of the plunger, without reference to whetherthe same is rotating at the same time that it is reciprocated. Also, itwill be noted that the pencil may be operated with one hand, i. e. thebarrel may be grasped by the fingers and the cap depressed with thethumb, whereas with a rotatable type of mechanism for advancing thelead, two hands are required to operate the same.

In assembling the pencil, the lead chamber or plunger with the housingI4, the toggle members below the same and the small tube Il with thecollar, thimble and plug thereon, are inserted into the large end of thebarrel until the plug projects from the lower end thereof, after whichthe nut is screwed over the lower end of the plug and tightened.

In the modification shown in-Figs. 6, '1 and 8, the tube 5 4 is providedwith a longitudinal slot 55 and with a slidable sleeve 55 vwhich carriesa set screw or stop screw 51 which extends into said slot and serves tolimit the .up and down movement of said sleeve. The screw is short anddoes not contact with the lead. This sleeve may be provided with agroove or with will now be de.

shown on a larger scale in Figs. 4 and possible.

end against which housing I4 is moved downwardly to advance the 'lead toabout theposition shown in Fig. 6- which shows said toggle members afterthey have been spread apart to release the lead and just before thepressure on the helical spring 32 is' released. 5 In this figure thesleeve 5i is in low'ermost position with the set screw or stop 5I at thebottom of the slot 55. As the housing I4 moves upwardly, the stopscrew'strikes the upper end of said slot, shown in Fig. '7, limiting theupward movement of said sleeve, after whichsaid housing continues itsupward movement to the position shown in Fig.- 8 which is reached afterthe opposing cam projections have ridden oif the upper end of saidsleeve and snapped the latter to its lowermost position, shown in saidgure. vIn this Fig. 8, however, no lead is shown, so as to indicate theposition of the toggle arms or tongs when they are drawn together as faras `In this position the lower ends of the tongs are obstructed .againstfurther inward movement by the upper end of the sleeve 5l.

In this second embodimentof the invention,

the lower end of the tube I I is held in-v fixed relation to the plug59, and the tip screwed there- 25.- to, by means of a very small 'setsew6I. However, if it is desired to permit the fieed mechanism to rotatewithin the barreLsaid set screw may be omitted and the tube I3 made ofsuch diameter as to have a sliding tiIl the bore in the tip 'andtheplug.

Although I have described two modifications of my invention, it will beunderstood that various other modifications and changes in theconstruction and in the proportion, shapev and size of the various partsthereof may be effected. without departing from the spirit of myinvention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An automatic pencil comprising a. barrel with a channel extendingtherethrough, means for advancing the lead through said channelcomprising reciprocable toggle members disposed on either side of saidchannel for gripping the lead, resilient means to hold said togglemembers in gripping position, means for reciprocating said togglemembers with respect to the barrel, means for spreading said togglemembers to disengage said lead when said toggle members have advancedsaid lead a predetermined distance. and means for holding said togglemembers in disengaged position during the reverse movement thereof.

2. A pencil having a longitudinal tube in which the lengths of lead aresupported in alignment, a casing surrounding the same, said tube havingslots on opposite sides thereof, a frame slidable longitudinally withrespect to said tube, a pair of toggle members pivoted to said frame andhaving portions projecting into said vslots to engage the lead, meansfor moving said frame and hence said toggle members to advance said leadand a sleeve on said tube in advance of said toggle members tobe'engaged thereby and release said lead. y

3. A pencil having, a longitudinal tube in which the lengths of lead aresupported in alignment, a casing surrounding the same, said tube havingslots on opposite sides thereof, a frame slidable longitudinally withrespect to said tube, a pair of toggle lmembers pivoted to said frameand having portions projecting'into said slots to engage the lead, meansfor moving said frame and hence said toggle members to advance lsaidlead, a sleeve on said tube in advance of said toggle 75 lead and aspring arranged to be compressed when said frame and said ylead areadvanced and serving to restore said frame to initial position aftersaid lead is released.

4. A pencil having a longitudinal tube in which .the lengths oflead-lare supported in alignment,

a casing surrounding the same, said tube havlng slots on opposite sidesthereof, a frame slidable longitudinally with respect to said tube, a

pair of toggle members pivoted to said frame and having portionsprojecting into said slots to engage the lead, means for moving saidframe and hence said toggle members to advance'said lead, a sleeveslidable on said tube and positioned in advance of said frame, saidtoggle members having cam surfaces thereon to engage said sleeve andspread said toggle members apart to release said lead after said framehas been advanced a predetermined distance, a spring compressed by theforward movement of said frame and serving to return the same to initialposition after said lead is released, said toggle members havingportions thereon which frictionally engage said sleeve and withdraw itduring the return movement of said frame, and means for arresting thereturn movement of said sleeve before said frame has reached its initialposition, whereby said toggle member portions are withdrawn from saidsleeve during the remaining movement of said frame and reengage the leadto advance itduring the next operation.

5. A pencil comprising an outer barrel and an inner barrel, said innerbarrel extending concentrically with and for -a lportion of the lengthof said outer barrel, a channel for the reception of lead extendingthrough said outer barrel into communication with said inner barrel, thelower surface of saidy inner barrel being of conical shape whereby leaddisposed within said inner barrel may readily drop into said channel,toggle members associated with said inner barrel for gripping andadvancing the lead through said channel, and means for preventing leaddisposed in said barrel from entering said channel during such time assaid inner barrel is depressed for advancing the lead already in saidchannel.

6. In a pencil, an outer casing, a step by step feed mechanism therein,a central tube through which the pieces of lead are advanced, a taperingplug at the outer end of said pencil having a bore and a sleeve securedto said tube and rotatable in said bore.

7. In a pencil, an outer casing, a step by step feed mechanism therein,a central tube through which the pieces of lead are advanced, a taperingplug at the outer end oi said pencil .having a bore, a sleeve secured tosaid tube and rotatable in said bore, said sleeve having a ange thereonto engage a transverse wall of said plug md prevent longitudinalmovement of said tube and a tip secured to said plug having a bore inwhich the lower end of said tube is rotatable.

v8. In a pencil, an outer casing, a step by step .feed mechanismtherein, a central tube through vwhich the pieces of lead are advanced,a tapering of said feed mechanism and serving 'to limit the movementthereof.

9. In av pencil having a spring pressed plunger and a pair of togglemembers connected thereto to grip and advance the lead, a pair ofhelical springs secured to said toggle members to draw them toward eachother and means for separating said toggle members after a predeterminedfeeding movement.

10. In a pencil having a spring pressed plunger and a housing securedthereto, with depending supports thereon, a pair of toggle arms pivotedto said supports, and springs normally drawing said toggle arms towardeach other.

l1. In a pencil having a spring pressed plunger, a housing securedthereto having a central bore, and a fixed tube over which said housingslides, a seat securedto said tube within said housing, a helical springsurrounding said tube, supported on said seat, and normally biasing saidhousing and plunger upwardly, and toggle members depending from saidhousing.

l2. In a pencil having a spring pressed plunger, a housing securedthereto having a central bore, and a fixed tube over which said housingslides, a seat secured to said tube within said housing, e. helicalspring surrounding said tube, supported on said seat, and normallybiasing said housing and plunger upwardly, toggle members depending fromsaid housing, said toggle members each'having a tooth thereon to gripthe lead and a cam surface below said tooth, said tube being openadjacent said teeth to permit the .same to grip a length ci leadtherein, and means to be engaged by said cam to separate said teeth.

i3. A pencil having a casing open at the lower end, mechanism comprisingan operating unit for propelling lead with a step by stepl movement,said unit including at one end a swivelly connected plug, and means tosecure said plug to the lower end of said casing.

JOHN C. WAHL.

